- Date
- January 12, 1998, 16:30 local (22:30 UTC)
- Place
- Pensacola, FL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N16MAValentin Tiafun 17E
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 21, 1998
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19980112000269A
- Case key
- 38445
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The NTSB’s determination of the probable cause, and any contributing factors.
the pilot's improper in-flight planning/decision and failure to see-and-avoid an obstruction during a precautionary landing on a paved road. Factors relating to the accident were: the resultant low fuel condition, and an obstruction in the precautionary landing area.
Analysis
The pilot made a navigational error during a cross-country flight (misidentification of a landmark), which resulted in a low fuel condition. He made a precautionary landing on a paved road in a housing subdivision. During the landing rollout, the airplane collided with a fence post, veered to the right, and nosed down. During the occurrence, the engine assembly separated from the airframe.
Factual narrative
On January 12, 1998, about 1630 central standard time, a Valentin Tiafun 17E, N16MA, registered to a private owner crashed on landing rollout during a precautionary landing in the vicinity of Pensacola, Florida. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The commercial pilot reported no injuries. The airplane sustained substantial damage. The flight originated from Pensacola Naval Air Station at an undetermined time.
The pilot stated he was on a VFR flight from Clemson, to Winter Haven, Florida. While in cruise flight he realized he was low on fuel and had misidentified the Gulf of Mexico as the Atlantic Ocean. He made a precautionary landing to a road in a housing subdivision. The right wing collided with a fence post and the airplane veered to the right, nosed over, and the engine assembly separated from the airframe.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N16MA
- Reported as
- Valentin Tiafun 17E
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 1039
- Airframe hours
- 587
- Engine
- Limbach L2000EB1.B, 80 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Robert G.Hebron
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 22, 1997
- Departed
- PNA · Pensacola, FL
- Destination
- 82J · Ferguson, FL
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 80
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 9,276 total · 68 in this make and model · 9,256 as pilot in command · 84 in the last 90 days · 14 in the last 30 days · 6 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 70° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 2,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 63 °F, dew point 57 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- PNA
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.